Reading other peoples experiences really does open ones eyes! However, I would like to say mine were good, but they were not.
My first son was born 17 yrs ago. I knew nothing about labour, but thought I want this to be as painless as possible. My son was a rather large baby at 65cm long and ten pounds. Therefore, I was given an epidural that crunched, yes crunched through the small gap between my vertebrae. I was only told later that I apparently have hardly any cartilage between the bones and if I should have more children and opt for an epidural, I must insist on the thinnest needle out. So No 1 son came out in 5 hours with help from forceps and an episiotomy.
It was only after No 2 came along 13 months later and the anaesthetist said "I can't give that an epidural, she's too big" that I realised what giving birth was. When they told me to push, I knew what they meant. The first time round I was trying to push in my vagina as the pain was being blocked by the epidural, the second time I realised I needed to push in my bottom. My daughter came out in 3 hours. I had pethadine but this made me very sick.
In 1992, my back started to play up in and around the local area of the epidurals, remember they may not get it on the first go, so you could have a few needle marks and bruises and be in pain.
In 1996 number 3 daughter came, I only opted for gas and air. WOW, this was great and it did take the pain away, but I wouldn't let go of it and became quite territorial about the mouthpiece. My daughter was born 1hr and 20 mins after starting labour.
In 2004 No five came along, I thought as did the hospital that this one would fly out of me as no three had been so quick. I was however an older mother now and needed an emergency caesarean, so you would have thought that in fourteen years, something would have changed so that epidurals would have been easier to give. Oh, how wrong was I. After three attempts by the anaesthetist and my body going into involuntary spasms down one side where he kept hitting a nerve, they gave up and I was knocked out. This experience really did upset me, as I did not feel as though I bonded with my son. My husband had bathed him, fed him and dressed him and I handed this ready-made baby, not a wailing naked newborn. It took me months to finally feel that this child was mine.
There was none of the messiness of not having a natural birth and I could not drive after the birth! Do you know how hard that is when you have three other schoolchildren who need ferrying around!
Therefore, when No 5 arrived in 2005, I was adamant that I was not having another section and I was going to have a natural birth with gas and air. I was very lucky that my consultant did sole care with me, as she was aware of the trauma around the last birth. (Having to go down two days after the section for more surgery as they had left a 12in drainage tube inside me!)
So I had No5 with just gas and air after 8 hours and again felt like I had had a baby and was shopping in Sainsbury?s within a week!
Let me just say that we are all different and in some ways you learn through your first birth what suits you and what you want next time. Pethadine doesn't suit everybody, as they can feel sick, even with the anti sickness jab. Gas and air can make some people feel out of it, thats the part I liked, the harder I sucked the further I felt out of it, but I could still follow instructions and the pain went away.
I remember once seeing a very heavily pregnant woman walking up a steep hill in Grenada; I stopped to give her a lift. The next day I saw her striding up the hill again, with a baby strapped to her back! She had given birth a few hours after I had seen her and she had things to do! Let?s just say that she said that she had gone into labour at the side of the road, without any painkillers and had walked to the hospital ten miles away to be checked out after the birth!